Halo Devs Are Making The Right Moves With Split Screen

Yesterday, Halo developer 343 Industries announced that all subsequent Halo shooters will feature split-screen multiplayer. This is the right move that goes beyond appeasing customer outcry and works toward creating a more consumer-friendly future of video games.

This is an obvious response to the feedback 343 received following Halo 5: Guardians, which featured no split-screen multiplayer of any kind, either offline or online. I've written about this move toward a one-purchase-per-player system and how it's not conducive to a consumer-friendly environment. People can say what they want about games like Halo and Call of Duty, but at least they let you play with your friends without them having to buy the game.

Let's be fair, also: I fully understand how difficult it is to add split-screen multiplayer. You have to completely render your game twice on the same screen and in a lower resolution. It's a technologically taxing process that can have detrimental effects on how your game performs. I imagine it is neither cheap nor practical, which is why I can understand when a game like For Honor decided to drop the split-screen because it's just too much of a strain.

That being said, the technology is never going to get better if no one invests in it. It's like people not wanting to produce an electric car because the technology isn't as good as it could be. Make it better.

That's why it's such promising news that a prominent developer like 343 of a prominent franchise like Halo is undertaking this. It sets a precedent for other games to follow and clears the path, so to speak, by making it easier for other developers to follow suit. Someone has to pave the way.

This marks the second time this year a major game has announced a return to its roots, after Activision announced that Call of Duty would return to a more grounded style of gameplay after reception for Infinite Warfare wasn't where they wanted it to be. Over all, I'm glad to see big studios paying attention.